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A very short prologue -- Introduction -- Getting out the message -- An anatomy of compliance -- A typology of responses -- Rewards and punishments : the punishment side -- Rewards and punishments : incentives and the civil side -- The pressure of peers -- The inner voice -- Factors in harmony; factors in battle -- A concluding word

This book argues that modern technology has radically and irretrievably altered our sense of identity and hence our social, political, and legal life. In traditional societies, relationships and identities were strongly vertical: there was a clear line of authority from top to bottom, and identity was fixed by one's birth or social position. But in modern society, identity and authority have become much more horizontal: people feel freer to choose who they are and to form relationships on a plane of equality. The author examines how modern life centers on human identity seen in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion, and how this new way of defining oneself affects politics, social structure, and the law. He claims that our horizontal society is the product of the mass media -- in particular, television -- which break down the isolation of traditional life and allow individuals to connect with like-minded others across barriers of space and time. As horizontal groups blossom, loyalties and allegiances to smaller groups fragment what seemed to be the unity of the larger nation. In addition, the media's ability to spread a global mass culture causes a breakdown of cultural isolation that leads to more immigration and heavy pressure on the laws and institutions of citizenship and immigration

Contents -- Preface -- I. The Legal System -- II. On Legal Acts -- III. On Legal Impact -- IV. When Is Law Effective?--Part I -- V. When Is Law Effective?--Part II -- VI. On the Origin of Law and Laws -- VII. Law, Power, and Social Structure -- VIII. On Legal Culture -- IX. On Internal Legal Culture -- X. Social Change and Legal Change -- Bibliography -- Index

Contents -- Part 1 -- 1. The Problem Stated -- 2. The Law: Creatures from Inner Space -- 3. The Birth of a Modern Legal Culture -- 4. The Security State -- 5. The Due Process Revolution -- Part 2 -- 6. American Legal Character -- 7. Sexual Behavior and the Law: A Case in Point -- 8. An Assessment -- 9. Epilogue: A Note on the Wide, Wide World -- Acknowledgments -- Index